Marcus Freeman couldn't stop praising his former Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love. In itself, that is no surprise. But as the Fighting Irish coach talked Wednesday about the Cardinals' first-round draft pick on an episode of the Cardinals Cover 2 podcast, he also was willing to consider Love's big talk already about wanting to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame someday.
It isn't that it won't take a lot of work, work that Love still needs to do, Freeman acknowledged. But he wasn't surprised that Love has talked about it, nor would he be surprised if Love can get there some day.
"He has the ability and the skillset and want-to to make that come to fruition," Freeman said.
Everyone knows Love's ability to run the ball. But after Love said the other day how much he likes pass protecting, Freeman said Love had improved in that area tremendously during his time in South Bend, including as a lead blocker when others run. "He's a powerful, powerful human being," Freeman said.
Perhaps even more importantly, Freeman's analysis of Love as a pass catcher is that it ratchets the running back to the next level. Love spent most of the spring in 2025 at wide receiver just working on that part of his game, and Freeman admitted Notre Dame wanted to use him more outside -- until they just decided to let him do damage out of the backfield as the season went on.
"I truly believe if he wanted to play full time wideout he would be really successful in the NFL at doing that," Freeman said. "That's how natural and good he is at it."
Speaking of Hall of Fame and Cardinals connections, Freeman also was asked about Devin Fitzgerald, the son of new Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald. Devin graduated early from Phoenix Brophy Prep to enroll in Notre Dame this spring and was part of spring ball.
"He's already made quite an impact," Freeman said. "(In practice) he made a one-handed catch and the players started yelling 'Little Larry.' He'll do some things that remind you of his father. He's made some crazy catches. He's constantly improving. He's one of those guys who is going to be a really good player for this football team. He has improved a lot just since he got here."
